Trump kick-starts oil drilling licence sales in Arctic refuge - The Guardian

The Trump administration has formally announced the go-ahead for the fiercely opposed sale of controversial gas and oil drilling licences in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The sale of leases is planned for 6 January 2021, a few days before Trump leaves the White House.

Trump had authorised sales of the gas and oil leases in the Alaska national park in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which he signed into law that year, calling for two leases of at least 400,000 acres each within the refuge’s coastal plain.

Adam Kolton, head of the Alaska Wilderness League, said in a statement: “President Trump’s electoral fate has been sealed and his days in office are numbered, making an Arctic Refuge lease sale yet another dangerous political favour that lacks broad public support or legal credibility.”.

“Oil and gas drilling could wipe out polar bears on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in our lifetimes,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife.